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I received an invitation to connect with someone on facebook the other day that tickled me. This was a man who had a poetic way of expressing himself as he requested ‘friending’ me. At the end of it, he said he was “blowing me some love.” Immediately the image of a massive bubble wand dipped in a huge bottle of soap and waved across the sky crossed my mind. As the circular structure wafted through the air, it rode the current from Africa to America and landed right on my heart.<\/p>\n
Such a powerful symbol for the energy that we are capable of sharing. It is so easy to do and sadly, so often missing in the lives of many. In one of my incarnations, I serve people with all manner of mental health concerns (I prefer that description to the term ‘mental illness’, since it sometimes pathologizes the person, rather than the symptoms). I am convinced that loneliness and isolation are every bit as insidious as the depression, anxiety or psychosis with which they present.\u00a0 I ask them often about family and friend support and connection and in way too many cases, the response is that they have few people (and unhealthy folks at that) and sometimes no one they can count on to be at their side. Sometimes they have burned their bridges because of choices they have made and continue to make and often they fear the emotional and sometimes physical pain that has arisen when they dare to reach out. I remind them that their history is not their destiny and they can make new choices in each moment. Sometimes they look at me as if I am speaking a different language and perhaps I am. I express in the universal language of love. What if we all spoke with inclusive words, rather than those that separate? How would it be if we viewed the person before us as worthy of our time and attention? My friend Charley Thweatt wrote a song called You Will Die Someday.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em> My favorite line is “take your time when you’re being with people. What’s another minute to you?” As someone who has often zoomed through life, multi-tasking as I go, I need that reminder. AND I also need to remember that the woman in the mirror needs my own attention as well, since she is no less worthy.<\/p>\n Last night, I found myself sitting next to the hospital bed of a friend who is facing the diagnosis of cancer as well as cardiac conditions. Hands on her legs, offering Reiki, while another friend had his hands on her head, feeling energy coursing through\u00a0all three\u00a0of us, I smiled as she related that she was ‘at peace’ with whatever happened. This 50 something mother of 5 who works as a professional in the healing field, lay back amidst hand drawn cards from her youngest, flowers from friends and family, books, chocolate:), with soothing music and beach scenes on a special tv channel, her room a healing haven, soaking in the love. In the room with us were people I have known for many years; one since the mid-80’s and the other two only slightly less time. What we had in common on this day in particular, was love and admiration for this woman who has offered so much of herself to others and now was in a position to\u00a0breathe it in, drink it in herself.\u00a0 I was warmed by the exquisite joy juice in the room as we laughed rather than cried in the face of the cancer. Yes, the words on paper look devastating, but can also be viewed as wake up call to revisit our beliefs about what life is and who travels with us on our journey. Fragile and strong we are, resilient and shaky at times. Needing each other (challenging for this independent soul writing these words, since sometimes I don’t wanna depend on no one no how) for our wellbeing, since no woman or man is an island.<\/p>\n As I was writing this entry, the song by Alexi Murdoch called Orange Sky was playing. Sharing it with you…<\/p>\n